


baby you're a lost cause

by whataboutmycape



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Drug Use, M/M, ameature band au, mentions of alcohol use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2013-12-29
Packaged: 2018-01-06 13:30:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1107435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whataboutmycape/pseuds/whataboutmycape
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“The name’s Jonny. I’m your new bass player, kid.”<br/>Patrick looks up, and manages to say, “I’m Kaner, welcome to the band,” without puking again. He thinks it’s a noteworthy accomplishment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	baby you're a lost cause

**Author's Note:**

  * For [unrequited_rain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/unrequited_rain/gifts).



> HUGE thank you to hollyandvice for the beta/cheerleader-ing she did for me! She was an AMAZING help to me when I got stuck! (Which was quite often)  
> The prompt from unrequited_rain that I filled was: Blackhawks, Kane/Toews, band au not a rock star au, but like in the early days where they're in vans and sleeping in parking lots and sneaking into dorms to shower and banging in rest stop bathrooms.  
> I really hope you're happy with this! I kinda madlibbed your prompt, and it isn't /exactly/ what you asked for, but I hope you like it nontheless!  
> also, i feel it's worth it to note- the working title of this was 'queer rock band au'

They pick Jonny up in Chicago. Patrick doesn’t notice him for at least 3 days, which is saying something, because it’s not like the bus is that big and they didn’t have any shows for that stretch of time. To be fair, though, Pat only got out of bed once during those 3 days. He went a little too hard their last night in Chicago.

 

Patrick gets introduced to Jonny at a rest stop in Wisconsin. It’s not his proudest moment, doubled over behind a brick wall and heaving into the grass. He doesn’t notice anyone walking up to him, but when he finally gets done puking up the remaining beer in his stomach a bottle of water is shoved towards him. Pat looks up and- there’s Jonny. He doesn’t look too impressed, but Pat can’t tell if it’s just the guys face or not. Pat doesn’t say anything, mostly because he doesn’t want to throw up again. Instead, he takes the bottle carefully and downs half of it in one go. Jonny takes that moment to answer the questions that Pat didn’t get a chance to ask yet.

 

“The name’s Jonathan, but if you call me that, I’ll hit you. Jonny’s fine. I’m your new bass player, kid.”

 

Patrick’s stomach feels much more settled after getting some water in his system, and so he manages to say, “I’m Kaner, welcome to the band,” without puking again. He thinks it’s a noteworthy accomplishment.

 

_Blackhawk Down_ had survived well enough without a bass player, but things certainly are better with Jonny around. It wasn’t ideal for them to rework their songs around the missing bass guitar, but it hadn’t too bad and there really wasn’t much they could do after Bur left. It was too short notice for them to even think of looking for a replacement. Jonny turns into a blessing in disguise, though, the night in Detroit when the tech equipment decides to throw a shit fit right before show start. It won’t work at all, no matter how many times Sharpy plugs and unplugs the wires, and Kaner’s just started yelling about having to cancel their set when Jonny walks over. He rolls his eyes when he sees what the problem is, and shoves Sharpy out of the way to fix it.

 

“Some of these aren’t even in the right _places_ ,” he complains, and Sharpy gives a shrug. Jonny groans in frustration and goes back to moving wires around.

 

The show that night goes off better than Pat thought it would. It’s their first show with Jonny added in, and _Blackhawk Down_ killed their set and even had an opportunity for an encore. The performance had Sharpy begrudgingly complimenting Jonny before he disappeared into the makeshift kitchenette in the back of the bus to grab a beer after the show. Duncs took it upon himself (as he usually does) to skip the second half of their set in favor of meeting up with one of his old dealer friends. Kaner has long since given up on trying to figure out how the fuck Duncs knows a local dealer no matter where they are. He gets free weed out of it, so he doesn’t really care too much.

 

That first night, Jonny shakes his head when Seabs offers to roll him one and just goes straight to his bunk in the back. Kaner tries not to show the disappointment he feels. The guys would give him shit about that for the rest of tour. So instead of sulking about the missed opportunity to see Jonny high, Pat snags the joint out of Sharpy’s hand and takes a long pull. Shawzy, one of the dealers they hung out with in Chi-town, taught him how to blow smoke rings, but when Pat tries this time they come out lopsided and don’t stay together. Duncs laughs at him, but tries to catch them anyway.

 

Jonny looks unfairly good during shows. It’s not like Kaner’s looking or anything, (that’s a lie, he totally is), but when he catches a glimpse Jonny playing a rift, covered in sweat that the cheap bar lights catch _just right_ , he looks fucking amazing. When Jonny plays, he looks so in tune with his guitar that sometimes it takes Kaner a couple tries to finally look away. It’s not his fault, though, it’s just that the way Jonny’s fingers move so easily against the steel strings its- well, it’s fucking _obscene_. Pat was never one for bass players, but he feels like Jonny, all sweaty and serious about hitting the right chords, is going to kill him before the end of tour.

 

The bus isn’t all that big, and Kaner finds out pretty soon that Jonny also looks unfairly good with bedhead. First thing in the morning, when it’s Duncs’ turn to make breakfast and he starts blasting heavy metal from the boombox on the dashboard, is the first time Kaner sees Jonny in full on just-woke-up mode. Jonny isn’t a morning person _at all_ and usually by the time anyone realizes he’s up he’s already dressed for the day and ready to get on with it. He almost always misses unofficial band breakfast, and so Kaner drinks in the sight of him now, sleepy and with pillow marks still on face, while he can.

 

Since space and supplies really are limited, breakfast consists of strawberry poptarts and bowls of knock-off brand cookie crisp cereal. Jonny looks unamused when Duncs sets down the plate of poptarts and stack of bowls, but Duncs sits down next to Pat looking impressed with himself. Before Pat can reach to grab the box of cereal and pour himself a bowl, Jonny shoves himself off the bus seat and stumbles towards the front of the bus muttering about needing coffee. Duncs’ laughter drowns out the warbling roar of their second-hand espresso maker.

 

Their next show is one that Kaner’s been looking forward to since they started the tour. It’s in this town called South Bend, right on the North end of Indiana. There’s this show bar that they perform in, have since they first started as a band, and the crowd there is always out of their minds. Kaner loves it, loves the atmosphere. Playing there reminds him of why he wanted to be in a band in the first place. _Blackhawk Down_ isn’t set to go on stage until 8pm, but they make sure they get into Kenny’s early so they can bullshit with the owners and, of course, set up. By the time curtain call comes around, Kaner’s loose and happy and he just knows that this show is going to be one of their best. He catches Jonny’s eye before the go on, and he winks, because why not? Jonny’s laughter echoes in his head throughout their whole set.

 

It’s a Tuesday when the bus breaks down. In classic worst case scenario fashion, they’re in the middle of nowhere on some highway none of them know the name of somewhere in Ohio. The last town they passed is a good ten miles behind them by now.

 

“I can’t even get a signal out here,” Sharpy whines, slumping over to lean on Seabs. Duncs sighs and reaches for the latch to pop the hood of the bus. Nothing’s working, AC included, and it’s unnecessarily hot in the bus with the sun relentlessly beating down on it, so everyone piles out. Duncs and Seabs move to check out the engine, and see if they can find the problem. Sharpy leans obnoxiously over their shoulders and doesn’t help at all. Kaner’s standing on the side of the road and just watching the three of them when he feels someone bump his shoulder, and looks over to see Jonny standing there with a sly grin on his face. It looks a little bit out of place, and it’s suddenly really obvious to Kaner about how short a time he’s known Jonny. Even though he fit in seamlessly with the band, there never really was time for a proper get-to-know-the-bass-player session.

 

“You up for sharing a joint?” Jonny asks, all casual, and Kaner forgets how words work for a second. He doesn’t know why his stomach knots up so much, Jonny’s just asking to smoke with him, he does this with the guys all the time, it’s not a big deal at all. Still, he doesn’t think he can open his mouth and from a coherent sentence so he just nods, and follows Jonny when he starts to walk away from the road and into the patch of grass that spans the side of the highway. Jonny crouches down when he finds a spot he’s happy with, and sits himself on the grass, leaning back against a tree stump with his feet straight out in front of him. Kaner drops down across from him, legs crossed. It’s quiet, then, far enough away from the road that they can’t hear the rest of the guys bickering. The only sound is of Jonny rustling through his pockets to pull out a baggie and some paper. Kaner watches as he starts rolling, Jonny’s long fingers working quickly. When he’s done, he holds it between two fingers and tilts it towards Kaner.

 

“Got a light on you?” Pat does, has the lighter he always carries in his left pocket. He reaches for it, and flicks it to life in front of him. Jonny tilts the joint into the flame and grins when it lights.

 

Jonny gets first pull, since he rolled, and Kaner watches with hooded eyes as Jonny blows perfect smoke rings above his head. Kaner sighs, and holds his head in his hands. When Jonny looks over at him he snorts and holds out the joint. Pat takes it easily and just takes a drag and exhales. When Jonny chuckles, Pat sticks his tongue out.

 

“Not everyone’s a show off like you,” he says, moving to give the joint back to Jonny. Instead of taking it, though, Jonny just nudges it back to Kaner.

 

“I want you to give me my next hit,” Jonny moves to kneel then, right in front of Pat. And Pat- well. He was never one to turn down a challenge.

 

“If that’s what you want, Tazer,” Kaner smirks. Jonny snorts and the nickname, but doesn’t say anything, just watches Pat take a pull. He leans forward, then, curling a fist in the front of Kaner’s shirt and meeting him halfway.

 

Kaner’s only shotgunned weed once before, but he thinks that it’s a fairly simple thing to do. He must not fuck up too bad, because when he opens his mouth against Jonny’s, Jonny just greedily sucks the smoke in, his lips moving against Pat’s looking for more, more, more. They pull away, for a second, and then Jonny’s got that stupid fucking smirk on his face again and Kaner can’t resist kissing it off, now that he knows he’s allowed to.

 

Shows are different now. It’s not-   _noticeable_ really, not to anyone but Patrick. Jonny’s just so much more distracting now, now that Pat isn’t trying _not_ to look, now that he has permission to touch and to watch and to mark. He’s hyper aware of where Jonny is on any make-shift stage they play on and it can be a bit distracting. Patrick wouldn’t trade this for anything, though. Never.

 

Later that night, after they play their set and the rest of the guys have gone and fucked off to different corners of the bar, either drinking or smoking or trying to pick up, Kaner grabs onto Jonny and doesn’t let go. There’s a dingy men’s room next to the bar, and that’s totally Pat’s target when he starts dragging Tazer across the dance floor.

 

It’s small, only one stall, a sink, and a urinal, and they’ll probably get shit pretty soon because they locked the main door, but it’ll work. Jonny pushes him up against the stall wall and Patrick grins because he would honestly never give this up. Sure, maybe _Blackhawk Down_ isn’t famous or anything. Maybe he hasn’t taken a shower in a while, and maybe they don’t have a lot of food to eat. But everyday he gets to play music, and that’s the best thing he can think of doing. He’s got his closest friends with him, every step of the way. And he’s got Jonny.

 

Patrick laughs, and Tazer smacks him on the ass. Yeah, Kaner isn’t giving this up. Never.


End file.
